System and method to facilitate group reporting of user equipment congestion information in a network environment

Abstract

A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include receiving load information for a plurality of cells of a Radio Access Network (RAN); determining, for each of a plurality of user equipment (UE) in each cell, identification information for each UE and an Access Point Name (APN) to which each UE is connected; identifying, from a plurality of policy servers, each policy server that serves each APN to which each UE in each cell of the plurality of cells is connected; and sending, to each of a particular policy server, congestion information comprising: an identity for each cell having UE that are connected to each APN served by the particular policy server; the corresponding congestion level for each of the cells; and a per-cell UE list identifying each of a plurality of UE connected to each of APNs served by the particular policy server.

We claim: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 receiving load information for a plurality of cells of a Radio Access Network (RAN), wherein the load information comprises an identity for each cell of the plurality of cells and a corresponding congestion level for each cell of the plurality of cells; 
 determining, for each of a plurality of user equipment (UE) in each cell, identification information for each UE and an Access Point Name (APN) to which each UE is connected; 
 identifying, from a plurality of policy servers, each policy server that serves each APN to which each UE in each cell of the plurality of cells is connected; 
 sending, to each identified policy server, congestion information comprising:
 an identity for each of one or more cells having UE that are connected to each of one or more APN served by the particular policy server; 
 the corresponding congestion level for each of the one or more cells; and 
 a per-cell UE list identifying each of a plurality of UE connected to each of the one or more APN served by the particular policy server, wherein each identified policy server is configured to determine a congestion status for each UE connected to each APN based, at least in part, on the congestion information received by the respective policy server; and 
 
 sending, by a RAN Congestion Awareness Function (RCAF) communicatively coupled to the plurality of cells, a plurality of Attribute Value Pairs (AVPs) relating to the congestion information to a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) in one message, wherein each AVP is associated with a respective cell of the plurality of cells. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifying and the sending are performed by the RCAF and the first network device comprises the RCAF. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the identifying performed by the RCAF is based on configuration information stored at the RCAF that identifies each policy server that serves each APN. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 2 , wherein the identifying performed by the RCAF is based on configuration information provided to the RCAF from an external database that identifies each policy server that serves each APN. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of AVPs comprise: a particular identity for a particular cell, a particular congestion level of the particular cell, a first list indicating each APN to which each UE in the particular cell is connected, and a second list indicating each of the plurality of UE in the particular cell. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the policy servers is a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF). 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein an efficiency of the sending increases in proportion to an increase in UE in each cell of the plurality of cells. 
     
     
       8. One or more non-transitory tangible media encoding logic that includes instructions for execution that when executed by a processor, is operable to perform operations comprising:
 receiving load information for a plurality of cells of a Radio Access Network (RAN), wherein the load information comprises an identity for each cell of the plurality of cells and a corresponding congestion level for each cell of the plurality of cells; 
 determining, for each of a plurality of user equipment (UE) in each cell, identification information for each UE and an Access Point Name (APN) to which each UE is connected; 
 identifying, from a plurality of policy servers, each policy server that serves each APN to which each UE in each cell of the plurality of cells is connected; 
 sending, to each identified policy server, congestion information comprising:
 an identity for each of one or more cells having UE that are connected to each of one or more APN served by the particular policy server; 
 the corresponding congestion level for each of the one or more cells; and 
 a per-cell UE list identifying each of a plurality of UE connected to each of the one or more APN served by the particular policy server, wherein the identifying and the sending are performed by a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA); and 
 
 sending, by a RAN Congestion Awareness Function (RCAF) communicatively coupled to the plurality of cells, a plurality of Attribute Value Pairs (AVPs) relating to the congestion information to a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) in one message, wherein each AVP is associated with a respective cell of the plurality of cells. 
 
     
     
       9. The media of  claim 8 , the operations further comprising:
 determining, by each identified policy server, a congestion status for each UE connected to each APN based, at least in part, on the congestion information received by each identified policy server. 
 
     
     
       10. The media of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of AVPs comprise: a particular identity for a particular cell, a particular congestion level of the particular cell, a first list indicating each APN to which each UE in the particular cell is connected, and a second list indicating each of the plurality of UE in the particular cell. 
     
     
       11. The media of  claim 8 , wherein an efficiency of the sending increases in proportion to an increase in UE in each cell of the plurality of cells. 
     
     
       12. The media of  claim 8 , wherein each identified policy server is configured to determine a congestion status for each UE connected to each APN based, at least in part, on the congestion information received by the respective policy server. 
     
     
       13. A communication system comprising:
 a Radio Access Network (RAN) Congestion Awareness Function (RCAF) comprising at least one first memory element for storing first data and at least one first processor that executes instructions associated with the first data; 
 the RCAF being adapted when executed by the at least one first processor to:
 receive load information for a plurality of cells of a Radio Access Network (RAN), wherein the load information comprises an identity for each cell of the plurality of cells and a corresponding congestion level for each cell of the plurality of cells; 
 determine, for each of a plurality of user equipment (UE) in each cell, identification information for each UE and an Access Point Name (APN) to which each UE is connected; 
 identify, from a plurality of policy servers, each policy server that serves each APN to which each UE in each cell of the plurality of cells is connected; 
 send, to each identified policy server, congestion information comprising:
 an identity for each of one or more cells having UE that are connected to each of one or more APN served by the particular policy server; 
 the corresponding congestion level for each of the one or more cells; and 
 a per-cell UE list identifying each of a plurality of UE connected to each of the one or more APN served by the particular policy server, wherein an efficiency of the sending increases in proportion to an increase in UE in each cell of the plurality of cells; and 
 
 send, by the RCAF communicatively coupled to the plurality of cells, a plurality of Attribute Value Pairs (AVPs) relating to the congestion information to a Diameter Routing Agent (DRA) in one message, wherein each AVP is associated with a respective cell of the plurality of cells. 
 
 
     
     
       14. The communication system of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 the DRA comprising at least one second memory element for storing data and at least one second processor that executes instructions associated with the data; and 
 the DRA being adapted when executed by the at least one second processor to:
 identify, from a plurality of policy servers, each policy server that serves each APN to which each UE in each cell of the plurality of cells is connected. 
 
 
     
     
       15. The communication system of  claim 13 , wherein each identified policy server is configured to determine a congestion status for each UE connected to each APN based, at least in part, on the congestion information received by the respective policy server.